Cancel Culture

I'm 34 years old. I grew up in the time of the original Power Rangers. I had a black and white Gameboy the size and shape of a brick. I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to recent culture and trends. I typically live under a rock when it comes to social media and new-age terms and movements like, 'cancel culture' and being 'woke'. I spent the majority of my life living under a rock - both intentionally and unintentionally... but that's a story for another time.

As I'm becoming more interested and involved with politics (regret not being involved earlier), I realize these things matter and I need to learn about them.

Dictionary.com definition of cancel culture:

"Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming."

It sounds like a form of Boycott (link to my blog on the subject). I actively participate in a several long-term boycotts of certain companies that I have philosophical differences with. Cancel culture sounds like a boycott of people and even just one individual. However, a big issue that I am discovering is that people are 'cancelling' people sometimes without much proof or for a silly reason such as an insignificant difference of opinion. General Boycotting also has this issue, but I feel it's more prevalent with cancel culture because of social media and the all too easy spread of disinformation. 

Boycotts can be very effective given enough people are on board. Typically they start small and then gain momentum. This is the same process for cancelling someone, except it likely occurs very fast. The problem is that it often happens prematurely. Say a popular music artist is accused of sexual assault. They might then immediately 'cancelled' by large swarms of people. The judgement happens before the truth is out. 'Innocent until proven guilty' is often thrown out of the window. 

It could be a smaller offense. You could give provide an opinion that might offend someone and heavy backlash could follow given it reaches enough people. Boycotting and cancelling are a form of social justice. The people have the power to choose to support or ignore certain people, groups, companies without the need for legal litigation. People like to feel like they are a part of something. They like to feel like they are making a difference. If they hop on a particular bandwagon that is boycotting someone, they feel like they've done something important. But have they done their research?

I think this ties into social media induced A.D.D. Scrolling through endless streams of media posts provides us with an endless dose happiness-inducing chemicals in our brain. By latching on to a movement such as a cancellation, we feel even better. This allows us to feel like activists. It's fast and easy. But is it right? Is it fair? Are we judging too quickly? Our attention deficit prevents us from looking too deep into the actual issue. Doing any kind of significant research is probably not very fun, so our happiness-hungry brains quickly move onto a different topic.

To cancel something or someone is just another term for Boycotting them. It's just a modern, more hip term. It's a new branding. In with the new, out with the old like a new trendy pair of jeans. Maybe it'll be called something else in a few years. It's Boycotting brought to the world of social media and public shaming. You hop on a cancel train and all of a sudden you feel 'woke' and informed and aware of the problems in the world and by being on the train with a host of others, you feel you are making a difference.

I am all for Boycotting. Since cancel culture is Boycotting with a new label, I'm in favor of it. But, people need to do their research before committing to something. You cannot judge too quickly. The world is a complicated place. Your actions have consequences. If you are going to publicly shame someone, you better make sure aware of the facts. The world is not black and white. 

Resources:

Excellent (warning: very long) speech on 'wokeness':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sni7ghqHBJw

HuffPost UK video explanation of cancel culture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bisnMOujqFs

Harvard professor against issues with cancel culture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erKC_TT9dQ

Barack Obama on 'call-out culture' and being 'woke':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHLd8de6nM

Communication in 2020

Communication is hard. And I feel it's becoming more difficult, despite all of our technology. 

There are methods of direct text communication such as text message (SMS), WhatsApp, LINE, Signal, Telegram, Facebook messenger. And then there are social media platforms, which offer a direct and indirect communication methods such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat. We obviously still have the ability to make a phone call, but often default to the digital option. Then there are the video chat options such as Facetime, Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, Google Duo. 

Some of these become less popular over time and get phased out. Remember AOL and AIM instant messenger? Google has had a several they experimented with and retired such as Google Allo. In true Google fashion, Google Duo will now be phased out and replaced with Google Meet. 

We have all these methods and options, yet I feel we're actually communicating less effectively compared to the earlier days of email and even snail mail. The communication is also much more shallow. We switch from one topic to the next in the blink of an eye. There's so much information out there, it's hard to focus. We are bombarded with never ending streams of social media and news feeds.

There are a few problems. 

1. While options are good to have, too many options cause a lack of communication because people choose to use different methods. There have been attempts in the past to combine all methods into one, but I don't think they gained much traction. There's even an episode in the show,  The Office where Ryan attempted to make an App called, 'Woof' that does exactly this. WUPHF - The Office ("Woof") (Youtube)

2. Information coming in at the speed of light, so many connections to many others cause a sort of social media induced attention deficit disorder. We're connected to people around the world, which is good, but there are endless streams of information that we feel we need to pay attention to - because we either feel it's important or just plain entertaining. 

What's the solution? Well, awareness is step one. Two, you need to establish what's really important to you. Is it the constant bombardment of hourly life updates from all your Instagram buddies or personal messages from your family? From there you need to force yourself to focus on what's important while filtering out all the other junk. 

You ever get a text message or an email and forget to respond to it? This was much less likely in the days of snail mail. You'd get a letter which you probably put it on your desk or kitchen table. Having the physical piece of communication not only made it more difficult to forget, but it also likely felt more important. 

One problem I have is that I refuse to use Facebook while most of my family uses it. Because it has the same ownership, I also refuse to use Instagram and WhatsApp. That leaves me with Twitter. Sadly, barely anyone in my family uses Twitter. So, I resort to using text messages and Email if I want to communicate with them electronically. This is issue #1 discussed above. 

Issue #2 is a broader issue, but nonetheless effects communication. Technology-induced ADD is what I like to call it. There are so many TV shows to keep up with and binge, so many Twitter, Instagram, and news feeds to scroll through. So many notifications from your smartphone that you need to dismiss. Before you know it, it's bedtime. So much for all those hobbies you wanted to start or continue. So much for that book you've been meaning to read. So much for responding to a text or an email that you forgot about that got lost in the sea of digital distractions. 

Loneliness: Youtube video review

According to this Youtube video on loneliness, "Loneliness is twice as deadly as obesity and as deadly as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day".

This was surprisingly in-depth. They actually list their sources and most of them seem to be legitimate research papers and books. We are social beings. Even the hermits and socially awkward need some level of human interaction.

I identified with many thoughts expressed here - in particular, the bit about the vicious cycle of loneliness and how your perceptions change. You see things that aren't true. You misunderstand social interactions. You become hyper-aware and defensive. You stop giving people the benefit of the doubt. Everything is negative. You feel anxious. You don't get along with anyone.

YOU need to pull yourself out of this funk and realize perhaps you have the wrong mindset. Give people the benefit of the doubt. When you're not sure, don't assume you understand someone's intentions. Ask them. Be direct and try to understand them. Communication is hard.

It's interesting that loneliness has increased over time. With the age of technology and social media, you would think loneliness would be a thing of the past. Communication is getting harder. Intentions are getting misinterpreted. We're becoming more isolated. This issue is not going to solve itself. We need to acknowledge this problem and ensure our mindsets are evolving along with our environments.

Source:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1745691614568352
Youtube video source list:
https://sites.google.com/view/sourcesloneliness/startseite

Goodbye Facebook

Illustration by Jim Carrey posted on his twitter page:
https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/976128958352642048

Oh, Facebook - you disappoint me. First your pathetic initial response to the spread of fake news on your platform and then this recent data breach. Despite these two major issues, I was already on the fence.  I no longer support this platform, so it's time to say goodbye - likely forever.

Unless you've been living under a rock, Facebook has been all over the news lately. My biggest concern is the spread of false information, a.k.a. 'fake news'. This is propagated by actual people, which is not Facebook's fault directly, but since it has such a large effect - such as swaying a presidential election, Facebook needs to be held responsible.

I appreciate and agree with Mark Zuckerberg's candid response regarding the data breach: "We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you."  No, you don't. 

Apart from this, I didn't like what I was seeing on Facebook and what I was personally getting out of using it. I had high hopes, like Myspace before it. Remember MySpace? 'A place for friends'. I liked the idea of a medium where I could share thoughts and ideas with my close friends and family. This worked to some extent, but many of my attempts likely got drowned out by all the social media 'noise' as well as advertisements disguised as 'suggested posts'. 

I'm predicting Facebook will have a similar fate to Myspace. There's event a hashtag 'delete Facebook' movement currently happening. Even earlier however, I started to see that the younger generation just doesn't use Facebook as much as my generation. It would seem platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat are just more 'hip' than Facebook these days - just as Facebook was towards the end of Myspace.

Unfortunately there aren't many good alternatives.  I was hoping Google+ would catch on, but it never did. Perhaps it will come back into the spotlight now that Facebook is going downhill - I just hope they do a face-lift soon. Unfortunately the Facebook parent company owns Instagram and Whatsapp! Then we are left with Twitter and Snapchat. Sadly Twitter was among the top platforms, along with Facebook that bolstered the spread of 'fake news'. 

I'm thinking of going old school. If I want to communicate with a handful of close friends and family, then I will just email them. That way there will be no distracting ads or a 'wall' full of nonsense to get in the way with my communication with them. 

Here are some more related links:

How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions
Distribution of fake news article
Guide to backup data and delete your account
Facebook: how to backup your data (pictures, message history, etc)
The Verge: On quitting Facebook
Business Insider: Facebook takes down accounts from Russian troll farm
CNN: Australia investigating Facebook data scandal

The Blogsphere

After a little early spring cleaning, I came across a comic strip my mother cut out for me a few years ago, as seen above. I was always very quiet and I used to blog often because writing was my strong form of communication. So you can see why my mother thought this comic was funny. I found a similar one on the internet, which can be seen below. I think the purpose that they were created was to poke fun at some people's need to jot down every detail of their life and post it on the internet.

Especially nowadays, communication between parties such as child and parent is reduced to light chit chat, while most emotions and feelings get expressed through a vast social network known as the internet. It's no longer enough to just experience something and share it with a few close friends. By posting your thoughts on the internet, you're exposing yourself to many more people, and so you're likely to get much more feedback. And we all love feedback.